Frontiers of Anthropology: Coneheads again, And more on Adena Giant Warriors in Peru

Friday, March 16, 2012

Coneheads again, And more on Adena Giant Warriors in Peru

Continuing on Coneheads

eprint of a December 2011 Bones Don't Lie Blog:
 Not Aliens, Just Humans with Modified Crania

This entry was posted on December 22, 2011, in Bioarchaeology, Methods.

Cranial deformation has been the cause of much debate and fascination.

The elongated skulls and flattened foreheads have created speculation of evidence of aliens or satanic practices. Even this past year, the Daily Mail claimed that skulls found in Peru were potentially those of extraterrestrials.

According to the article there are three anthropologists that all agree that these are not human.

However, we know that this practice is not only easy to accomplish in humans, but also continues in cultures today (even our own).

scholars have still been debating the reasons and methods behind the deformation for hundreds of years.

Cranial vault modification can be achieved through a number of means. Enchev et al. (2010) discuss two types of modification: tabular or annular.

Tabular, or “flat-head” modification involves compressing the fontal and occipital with fixed, erect boards or pads. This creates a lateral bulging of the head. A variation on this is when vertical boards are placed higher up on the back of the head to produce more upright modification.

Annular modification is produced when bands are wrapped around the forehead and the back of the skull to force the bone to grow upright. Examination of modified crania show that they often vary by individual, attributed to the nature of bone growth and idiosyncratic variation in the application of bands and boards.

Another common term applied to these skulls is cranial deformity, however this term implies that the shape was unwanted or a malformation.

However, it is unlikely that the changes found in the skulls of Peruvian and Egyptian populations are due to accident. This leads to the question of intent and purpose.

In order to understand the reasons for the change, it is important to look at the social and political context of the practice, as well as the identity of the individual and their place within society.

Ayer et al. (2010) argue that deformation was a sign of political and socioeconomic status. In support of their hypothesis, they examine a selection of modified crania in Peru and Egypt.

The earliest modified skulls in Peru date between 6000 and 7500 BCE, with the majority of remains from this period showing signs of deformation.

There is potential evidence between 1350 to 1200 BCE in Egypt. It has only been found there in elite individuals, and doesn’t appear to be a widespread practice.

Ayer et al. (2010) argue that the modification was a literal symbol of being the head of the state.

Romero-Vargas et al. (2010) discussed the role of modification in the Maya. In the classic Mayan period, 250 to 900 CE, cranial modification consisted of creating a more erect frontal bone using compression pads.

A 16th century Spanish chronicler, Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo, asked the Mayan why their heads were a different shape, and the reasons behind the modification.

They responded: “This is done because our ancestors were told by the gods that if our heads were thus formed we should appear noble and handsome and better able to bear burdens”.

Romero-Vargas et al. (2010) argue that the practice has religious and sociocultural meaning, and it is an integral part of someone’s identity.

Modifying the cranium is a major undertaking and occurred in a variety of cultures through different forms and methods. However, it continues today in order to create the perfect shapes. See Kristina Killgrove’s post on cranial modification and its modern occurrence.

Currently there is only speculation as to the reasons and purposes of the modification.

Enchev Y, Nedelkov G, Atanassova-Timeva N, & Jordanov J (2010). Paleoneurosurgical aspects of Proto-Bulgarian artificial skull deformations. Neurosurgical focus, 29 (6) PMID: 21121717

This Pracas necropolis has ben the center of interest for the Defdormed crania seekers. Although Paracas culture runs back to 700 BC or before, the most of the mummies dig up in the Paracas tombs date from 200 BC to 200 AD approximately.

These people are thought to have come down from the north and have some relationship to the Olmecs as their predecessoirs of the Cavin culture are suspected to have been. But from the shape of the skulls of some of the mummies, their people came from further North still: some of them are of the same physical type as the Adena Mound Builders of the Ohio Valley.

On pages 308-323 of his 1808 book, Travels in America, Thomas Ashe describes his inspection of one of several different ancient Indian mounds he visited in the then thinly settled Ohio valley.

He gives an especially detailed account of how he and his  helper visited a mound near the banks of the Muskingum river, climbed to its  summit, lifted flagstones at the top, and descended into an artificial vault  where Ashe reportedly discovered ancient relics and ancient writing.

What is  particularly interesting about Ashe's account is that he also speaks of  "Mound-Builder" giants in his story of opening that particular mound.

On pages 321-323 of his book, Thomas Ashe speculates that the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North America were inclined to select for their top leaders men of gigantic stature.

Although Ashe's notion may not represent a universal truth, there are occasional  documented instances of the leaders or "upper classes" in certain socially  stratified Indian groups possessing an extraordinary stature.

See, for example,  "Tomb of Giants" on pp. 64-65 of the March 2001 issue of National  Geographic for a depiction of "giants" in a Moche burial in Peru.

Get a taste of what awaits you in print from this compelling excerpt.

The large copper bowl lay within my  grasp, undisturbed for 1,500 years since it had been placed upside down over the  dead man’s face.

Our team had worked more than a month to reach this point in  the excavation of one of the richest and most intriguing tombs ever found in  Peru—the tomb of a Moche elite.

The Moche inhabited a series of river  valleys along the arid coastal plain of northern Peru from about A.D. 100 to  800.

Through farming and fishing, they supported a dense population and highly  stratified society that constructed irrigation canals, pyramids, palaces, and  temples.

Although they had no writing system, the Moche left a vivid artistic  record of their activities in beautiful ceramic vessels, elaborately woven  textiles, colorful murals, and wondrous objects of gold, silver, and copper.

Finding undisturbed Moche tombs is rare in an area that has been looted  for more than four centuries, yet from 1997 to 1999 our team of U.S. and  Peruvian researchers discovered three extraordinary tombs at Dos Cabezas, an  ancient settlement in the lower Jequetepeque Valley.

Outside each burial chamber  was a miniature tomb containing a small copper statue meant to represent the  tomb’s principal occupant.

Each tomb also contained a remarkably tall adult male  who would have been a giant among his peers. [Emphasis added-DD]

Gently lifting the copper bowl, I expected to see a skeletonized face. But
instead, looking up at me with inlaid eyes, was an exquisite gold-and-copper
funerary mask. We were all astonished and knew then how important these
tombs could be to unraveling the mystery of the Moche.

Get the whole story in the pages of National Geographic magazine

--This article once again emphasizes that the Warrior elite in the Americas was carefully selected from the larger individuals and bred into a special class, training for combat throug gladiatorial excercises and not actually employed locally for warfare.

Iton that they were shipped off to fight wars elsewhere, particularly in the Mid East,.

And if you do not believe that Peru was diectly connected to Mesopotamia in tye early days (The Verrills have a LOT of evidence on this point), themn have a look at a piece of pottery found at Tiahuanaco which has an inscription on the inside in the cuneiform script common in Babylonia and associated nations:

Frontiers of Anthropology: Coneheads again, And more on Adena Giant Warriors in Peru

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